Fun, Not Fun

Greetings,

     I have not been in a great mood overall lately.  Oh like most people I have my ups and downs but compared to "normal me" my downs have increased and my ups have decreased.  I was thinking about this over the weekend during in increased "down" time and I think I might have a possible source of this up/down shift.  I think that the fun has been taken out of the fun things in my life.  Here are a few examples...

• Slippery Scope (Band) - So I started a band a few years ago with some co-workers.  We played mostly at work even though we did do one 45 minute set at a local bar.  We lost our percussionist a while back and the recent split of our company (see Work section below) caused us to lose one of our vocalists.  The keyboard player we had did not have time (due partially to Work) to commit to continue playing either so the lead guitarist went out and got a drummer, a bassist and another guitar player and together we practiced about 30 songs and had enough material to cover a complete night at a local bar (three 45 minutes sets).  Less than a week before the concert, 2 of our band members had to make trips to the emergency room so we had to cancel our gig.  After that the bass player got a new job in another state so we had to find another bassist (which we did).  Through it all though it just became not fun for me.  The practice sessions were too long (3 hours on a weeknight + drive time) and we did not have a new gig lined up so practicing seemed to have less purpose than before.  In the end, I told my coworker (the original guitarist) that I was leaving the band.  He completely understood.  They are working on an album of original material and we left the door open for me to be a guest vocalist.
• My CD Collection - So I did a whole list of blogs (almost 50) about my listening to every CD that I own (over 1,200).  Lately though I have been cleaning out the closet and I decided that some CDs have to go.  I considered just throwing them out and that was very tempting but in the end I decided to sell them on ebay.  I threw out the CD cases long ago and all I have are the CD inserts and the CDs themselves.  These are in 2 big boxes in my closet.  I likely am going to try to get rid of 900 CDs and I did not want to list them on 900 individual auctions so I started to make piles of like artists and sell them in lots of 5 - 40 CDs.  I bought some 6"x6"x6" boxes from Half Priced Boxes (what a great store by the way) and spent many hours hunched over my collection and making stacks.  As of the typing of this blog I have completed about 30 auctions and have about 15 more active at this time.  Once you cover boxes, tape, ebay fees and my time I can conclude this is not going to be a very profitable venture.  It makes me sad I ever bought most of these CDs as the joy I got from listening to them in the past is outweighed by the pain of dealing with (almost) giving them away to strangers on the internet.  I am also giving away my LP collection (160 LPs) to my cousin who will pick them up the next time he is in Texas (which is supposed to be this month).  I have already given away my stamp collection that I have moved from house to house (an estimated 14 times).
• Eating - I think I can chalk this up to watching one or two too many documentaries on Netflix about food and the food industry.  It is a disheartening thing when you find out that everything you have been taught is a lie and that those lying to you have done so on purpose and assumed you were an idiot (this may be a bit harsh I guess but it is how I initially felt).  I will not go into too many details but I will warn you just to avoid the documentary section of Netflix unless you want to be mad or change (or both).  In the end, I have converted (not sure if this is the right word) to veganism.  Actually a better description would be a plant based diet.  I have not had meat, eggs, dairy, etc. since July 17th.  I have had some honey (technically not a plant based food) so I would not be welcome in the die hard vegan camp.  There are lots of reasons to go vegan or plant based but mine is strictly for health reasons.  I joke that I would have to give up veganism since I could not maintain the "holier than thou" attitude required in the bylaws.  I do feel healthier but eating has ceased to be fun, or at least it is much less fun than it used to be.  The wife kept the same diet for about 30 days but now describes herself as "mostly vegetarian" while my daughter would describer herself as vegetarian.  My son, who does not spend much time at home, let alone eating with us, has not changed his diet at all, at least based on Netflix documentaries.  Not only is eating less fun, but going out to eat is now a challenge.  Many restaurants have vegan options but it is mostly just omitting things (leave off the beef or cheese) instead of a planned vegan dish.  As a vegan, you can become a social pariah either not attending social functions that revolve around food or having an uncomfortable conversation with your hosts / fellow participants about why you are not eating with them.
• Work - Ugh, where to start?  Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy going into work on Monday mornings and in general I still love my job and my workplace.  However, having just gone through the 2nd major split in the last 3 years, my job (like everyone else's at my workplace) is not as fun as it used to be.  Nine years ago, the company I worked for was acquired by another company.  Three years ago, the bigger company split into two companies.  This required, in addition to your normal workload, that we make two versions of most applications and then spend time migrating and cleaning up data.  In some ways, that company split is still not complete as I still have to provide services indirectly to people from that company.  This past year, the company I work for (the one that split off three years ago) split again only this time the part that split off was immediately merged with another company.  So, now, in addition to making 2 versions of most of the applications and migrating and cleaning up data, we have to merge our applications with those of another company.  Again, this is in addition to my normal day to day job.  Also, there has been many cuts along with some good workers just leaving on their own.  The net result is even more work and responsibility for those of us left behind.  I have joked with more than one co-worker as we said our goodbyes (due to them being cut or leaving on their own) that time will tell if I am the lucky one or if they are.

     There are other things as well.  My morning commute usually involves listening to the local ESPN station but lately instead of sports the hosts are talking about off the field topics like the national anthem or players being accused of crimes and then fighting their suspensions.

     These are all first world problems for sure and I know it.

     It is just a theory, but when fun becomes not fun then you have to either fix it or stop doing the "fun" thing.  How to replace it though?  How does one find new fun things to do?

Jon